The management of the National Park System and NPS programs is
guided by the Constitution, public laws, treaties, proclamations,
executive orders, regulations, and directives of the Department of the
Interior.

The property clause of the U.S. Constitution, which is the supreme
law of the United States, gives Congress the authority to develop laws
governing the management of the National Park System. The property
clause specifically directs that "The Congress will have the Power
to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the
Territory or other Property belonging to the United States"
(article IV, section 3). Under this authority, the Congress established
the National Park Service in 1916 with a law often referred to as the
Organic Act (US Code; TITLE 16; CHAPTER 1; SUBCHAPTER I; [section] 1).
Many people can recite the "mission" component of this law:
"... which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and
historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the
enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave
them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

Less familiar is the statement that precedes the
"mission," but which gives the service many of its
authorities: "There shall also be in said service such subordinate
officers, clerks, and employees as may be appropriated for by Congress.
The service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the
Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations
hereinafter specified, ... as provided by law, by such means and
measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks,
monuments, and reservations, (which purpose is...)." [Emphasis
added.]

Congress supplemented and clarified these provisions through
enactment of the General Authorities Act in 1970, and again through
enactment of a 1978 amendment to that act (the "Redwood
amendment," contained in a bill expanding Redwood National Park),
which added the last two sentences in the following provision. The key
part of that act, as amended, is as follows:

Congress declares that the National Park System, which began with
establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, has since grown to
include superlative natural, historic, and recreation areas in every
major region of the United States, its territories and island
possessions; that these areas, though distinct in character, are united
through their inter-related purposes and resources into one National
Park System as cumulative expressions of a single national heritage;
that, individually and collectively, these areas derive increased
national dignity and recognition of their superlative environmental
quality through their inclusion jointly with each other in one National
Park System preserved and managed for the benefit and inspiration of all
the people of the United States; and that it is the purpose of this Act
to include all such areas in the System and to clarify the authorities
applicable to the system. Congress further reaffirms, declares, and
directs that the promotion and regulation of the various areas of the
National Park System, as defined in section 1c of this title, shall be
consistent with and founded in the purpose established by section 1 of
this title [the Organic Act provision quoted above], to the common
benefit of all the people of the United States. The authorization of
activities shall be construed and the protection, management, and
administration of these areas shall be conducted in light of the high
public value and integrity of the National Park System and shall not be
exercised in derogation of the values and purposes for which these
various areas have been established, except as may have been or shall be
directly and specifically provided by Congress. [Emphasis added.] (16
USC 1a-1)

The importance of the highlighted portions of these laws cannot be
overstated, in terms of the responsibilities they place on park and
program managers. In short, nothing can be done to derogate the values
and purposes of the parks; nor that will affect or set precedent in
other units of the system.

Moreover, the Senate committee report stated that under the Redwood
amendment, "The Secretary has an absolute duty, which is not to be
compromised, to fulfill the mandate of the 1916 Act to take whatever
actions and seek whatever relief as will safeguard the units of the
National Park System." This duty extends to every park and program
manager in the National Park Service.

Policies and Other Guidance

Once laws are enacted, authority for interpreting and implementing
them is delegated to appropriate levels of government. In carrying out
this function, the National Park Service, like other federal agencies,
develops policy to interpret the ambiguities of the law and to fill in
the details left unaddressed by Congress in the statutes. NPS policy
must be consistent with higher authorities and with appropriate
delegations of authority.

Arguably, the NPS Management Policies document is the most
important for governing what can and can't happen in national
parks. The 2006 volume of NPS Management Policies provides several
descriptions of the document's intent and its importance. The
Policy document (The Directives System; page 4):

... is the highest of three levels of guidance documents in the NPS
Directives System. The Directives System is designed to provide NPS
management and staff with clear and continuously updated
information on NPS policy and required and/or recommended actions,
as well as any other information that will help them manage parks
and programs effectively. [Emphasis added.]
Interim updates or amendments to the Policies may be accomplished
through director's orders (the second level of the Directives
System), which also serve as a vehicle to clarify or supplement the
Management Policies to meet the needs of NPS managers. Under the
Directives System, the most detailed and comprehensive guidance on
implementing Service-wide policy is found in "level 3" documents,
which are usually in the form of handbooks or reference manuals
issued by associate directors. These documents provide NPS field
employees with compilations of legal references, operating
policies, standards, procedures, general information,
recommendations, and examples to assist them in carrying out
Management Policies and director's orders.

The Policy document (The Directives System; page 5) makes an
important statement:

This document is intended to be read in its entirety. While certain
chapters or sections provide important guidance by themselves, that
guidance must be supplemented by the overriding principles listed
below, which provide insight into the reading of this document. In
addition there is an interrelationship among the chapters that
provides for clarity and continuity for the management of the
National Park System. [Emphasis added.]

The principles state that the Policies should:

* comply with current laws, regulations, and executive orders;

* prevent impairment of park resources and values;

* ensure that conservation will be predominant when there is a
conflict between the protection of resources and their use;

* maintain NPS responsibility for making decisions and for
exercising key authorities;

* support pursuit of the best contemporary business practices and
sustainability;

* encourage consistency across the system-"one National Park
System";

* reflect NPS goals and a commitment to cooperative conservation
and civic engagement;

* employ a tone that leaves no room for misunderstanding the Park
Service's commitment to the public's appropriate use and
enjoyment, including education and interpretation, of park resources,
while preventing unacceptable impacts;

* pass on to future generations natural, cultural, and physical
resources that meet desired conditions better than they do today, along
with improved opportunities for enjoyment.

The Policies (Section 1.4.4; page 11) further require that,
"The impairment of park resources and values may not be allowed by
the Service unless directly and specifically provided for by legislation
or by the proclamation establishing the park. The relevant legislation
or proclamation must provide explicitly (not by implication or
inference) for the activity, in terms that keep the Service from having
the authority to manage the activity so as to avoid the
impairment."

Moreover, (Policies, Section 1.4.7.1; page 12):

Park managers must not allow uses that would cause unacceptable
impacts; they must evaluate existing or proposed uses and determine
whether the associated impacts on park resources and values are
acceptable. [Emphasis added.]

Virtually every form of human activity that takes place within a
park has some degree of effect on park resources or values, but that
does not mean the impact is unacceptable or that a particular use must
be disallowed. Therefore, for the purposes of these policies,
unacceptable impacts are impacts that, individually or cumulatively,
would

* be inconsistent with a park's purposes or values, or

* impede the attainment of a park's desired future conditions
for natural and cultural resources as identified through the park's
planning process, or

* create an unsafe or unhealthful environment for visitors or
employees, or

* diminish opportunities for current or future generations to
enjoy, learn about, or be inspired by park resources or values, or

* unreasonably interfere with

** park programs or activities, or

** an appropriate use, or

** the atmosphere of peace and tranquility, or the natural
soundscape maintained in wilderness and natural, historic, or
commemorative locations within the park.

** NPS concessioner or contractor operations or services.

The chapters of the NPS Management Policies cover all aspects of
resources protection and visitor enjoyment and management:

* Park System Planning

* Land Protection

* Natural Resource Management

* Cultural Resource Management

* Wilderness Preservation and Management

* Interpretation and Education

* Use of Parks

* Park Facilities

* Commercial Visitor Services

Appendices also list 59 laws and 19 Executive Orders and Memoranda
that are referenced in the Policies; and list the more than 90
Director's Orders that offer additional guidance to
decision-makers.

Perhaps the most important statement in the Policies (Compliance,
Accountability and Enforceability; page 4) is: "NPS employees must
follow these policies unless specifically waived or modified in writing
by the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary, or the Director!'
[Emphasis added.] Also (same section): "Park superintendents will
be held accountable for their and their staff's adherence to
Service-wide policy."

Why then, with all this guidance and requirement for strict
compliance with the Policies do we see what seems to be an increasing
number of actions by park and program managers that are inconsistent
with law and policy? Recent examples include:

* Failure by management of the Intermountain Region and Yellowstone
National Park to follow many applicable provisions of law and policy
relative to allowing snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park.

* An attempt by the superintendent of Little Bighorn National
Battlefield to expand the visitor center in defiance of the General
Management Plan for the park; simply because funds were available for
the expansion under the NPS entrance/user fee allocations.

* The installation of a boardwalk and maintenance facilities
affecting critical resources in Effigy Mounds National Monument without
undertaking appropriate environmental and cultural compliance.

* Undertaking management and development actions at Lyndon B.
Johnson National Historical Park that were not in compliance with the
General Management Plan; followed by the release of an Amended GMP that
attempted to justify the actions previously taken.

* Holding a Vietnam battle re-enactment at Lyndon B. Johnson NHP
(not only are battlefield re-enactments prohibited by the NPS Management
Policies, but this event is even more puzzling, since no Vietnam battles
were fought on American soil, much less at or near this NPS unit in
Texas).

Several possible answers exist:

* Political intervention--There is no question that some decisions
are made by park managers under pressure of political influence.

* Complexity of requirements--Understanding all the applicable
laws, policies, executive orders and other directives is a daunting
situation. However, given the compilation of these requirements as part
of the NPS Directives System, particularly the Management Policies, it
is not difficult to conduct research into what is allowed and what is
not.

* Insufficient emphasis on law and policy--It might be shocking to
learn how many park and program managers lack appropriate familiarity
with the laws governing the NPS and the NPS Management Policies; or who
feel that they intuitively know "what is the right thing to
do" and feel they don't need to refer to available guidance.
This is a failure of the employee and leadership development and
training program of the NPS.

* Lack of accountability--In many circumstances where laws and
policies are disregarded by park or program managers, there is no
significant consequence for their omissions or negligence. Absent that,
the disincentive for other managers to make decisions that don't
comply with law or policy is inconsequential.

Many of us are hopeful that the current emphasis on
"principled decision-making" by NPS Director Jon Jarvis and
his science advisor Gary Machlis will help avoid bad decisions affecting
park resources and the experiences of visitors in the future. Jarvis and
Machlis have said that decisions should be made based on:

* Accurate fidelity to law and policy.

* The best available sound science (or, we assume in those cases
not involving science, the best available sound scholastic/academic
research and review).

* The best interests of the broad American public.

Adherence to these decision-making principles would not only
require park and program managers to pay more attention to policies and
law, but would require them to pay more attention to good science
(Machlis says good science is science that will stand up in court). And,
it would require more attention to the statements expressed during
public comment periods; perhaps reducing the tendency of some managers
to discount public preferences (some saying, "Decision-making in
the NPS is not subject to vote by the public").

Summary

Park and program managers have all the tools needed to manage parks
and programs and to carry out operations to meet the mission of the
National Park Service as intended by Congress and the American people.
It is their responsibility to use those tools. Constantly ringing in
their ears should be the following statement:

If we are going to succeed in preserving the greatness of the
national parks, they must be held inviolate. They represent the last
stands of primitive America. If we are going to whittle away at them we
should recognize, at the very beginning, that all such whittlings are
cumulative, and that the end result will be mediocrity.--Newton B.
Drury, Director, National Park Service, 1940-1951

References

U.S. Constitution

United States Code, Title 16--Conservation; Chapter 1

National Park Service, Department of the Interior (2006).
Management Policies. On-line version available at:
http://www.nps.gov/policy/mp/policies.html; Printed version available
from Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.

John W. (Bill) Wade

Superintendent, Shenandoah National Park (retired)

Former Chair, Executive Council, Coalition of National Park Service
Retiree s

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